It'll be really obviously not chrome. Powder coating "chrome" looks like Jet-hot coated headers or maybe poorly polished aluminum/stainless. Pretty dull, looks like paint. If you have any real chrome on the rest of the car, the bumpers would stick out like a ***** in sweatpants.
you ever polished parts? how many hours are in polishing a motorcylces worth of parts? how much would you have to be paid to do that 40+ hours a week, non stop? how much would you have to be paid to breathe in potentially toxic chemicals everyday? there are hours of buffing involved, and a relatively quick dip in the tanks. would you want someone being paid minimum wage to do the polishing for you?
In simple terms that most everybody can understand..........Chrome is to metal what clearcoat is to a paint job. Preparation is EVERYTHING. You guys know how hard it is to do bodywork, slather and sand bondo and primer---imagine having to make a piece of metal straight and perfect with nothing more than a belt sander and some polishing wheels---and I mean PERFECT, as in "so shiny it looks like chrome" THAT'S most of the cost of plating. And I'm not taking up for platers either, cause that's MY 57 Caddy bumper Hotrodladycrusr was talkin about $1900, just for a front bumper Hell, the car only cost 3 grand......
Chrome work or good chrome work has never been cheap. The amount of work to make metal blemish free is not understood unless you have polished parts. The little pits need to be brazed or soldered in and then blended by buffing. The parts actually have to be perfect to have a show chrome plating. Plating will magnify any defect, no matter how small. It's expensive but don't cut corners because there is no worse problem than waiting months for plating to come back and finding it to be rough or have it peel, cause it's never the platers fault (haha) and you will need to send it out again and wait some more.
I had a pair of 57 Caddy bumper ends done last year, $350 each. Roof rack for a Buick wagon, just the bars, $300. Desoto seat frame, $1000, and $300 for each seat back frame. Fender skirt medalions $225 each
I was just talking to the owner of the local chrome shop the other day about some pieces that he has had of mine for the last 6 months or so. He was telling me that the cost of metal has skyrocketed...copper and nickel have virtually quadrupled in price. It's one thing to know that the labor is going to cost a lot, but now we're getting gouged by the cost of metal as well!
Blame the Chinese for the higher metal prices (and concrete too).... now that they are using all these resources.
Tell me about it !! I just spent two days cleaning old nickel anodes that two years ago I would have got rid of. My costs for my polishes have almost doubled almost too. Disposal costs are through the roof. and heating oil is beyond a joke. So I have another beer and carry on. What the hell?!!
Well.......I got the price today for the 199, 53 Skylark pieces today..... $18,404.25 Still waiting on a price for the other 21 random parts. EEEKK!!!
$18,000 ?!?! MEOW-SA! anyone ever deal with New England chrome in East Hartford CT?? i dropped off 6 pieces for my dad's 68 Cougar. 2 front vent window frames, 2 rear quarter window frames, and 2 trim pieces ("hockey sticks") for the rear quarter windows. $580. which didnt seem too bad. 6 week turn around time Mark 56 F100
I would hate to see what that would cost. ........Just think......that $18,400.25 does NOT include ANY stainless repair and polish,that will be later.
Man, I'm glad I read this thread, I was just think how nice it would be to have chromed headers and some engine parts done on my Nailhead
ok so what every body is basiclly saying is that rechroming your pieces aint cheap cause i have a 59 4dr belair that i want to get the bumpers and trim redone but i guess im not any more if its gonna cost that much lol im on a fixed budget lol
I picked up a Mopar Action mag the other day, the current one. They had a feature on a (wildily O/T) 69 Dart they'd built as a road racer, a project car that they'd just gotten done freshening up. I mention it because it now has fibergl*** bumpers, which have been painted with some kind of chrome that looks like actual chrome. They promised a feature or how-to in an upcoming issue. The only thing I see wrong with it is it's kind of wavy-looking, like you might see 4 reflections of yourself in one side of the bumper, but it's hard to judge from a reflection. These guys are on a tight budget with the car, so it can't have been too awful expensive. Maybe it would be a cheaper alternative to the real thing.
Any ideas as how much it might cost to chrome these wheels? I got these from Garlits last year for the project car in my avatar.They were originally made for MOON,& they were destined to go on a rocket car that MOON was building..."Baby Mooneyes".The project was shelved & somehow Don ended up with the wheels. They didnt have any plating on them,they just painted everything MOON yellow. We cut the spokes out of one of them,& I chucked the hub in my lathe & sanded it to give the brushed look.Im planning on replacing the spokes with new chrome or stainless pieces. The wheels are 19" X 40 spoke & are not rusty at all. I called a local chrome shop,& the guy would not give me a price.He kept talking about the prep work,& all the polishing that needs to be done around the spoke holes(which I totally understand).He cautioned me about this,stating that if they weren't careful,the spoke holes would become enlarged,so when the spokes are tightened,they could pull thru the rim.Im not looking for double-throw-down bling,,just a decent job. Any ideas? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/TroyCagle1/HubDone.jpg
buy the best and cry once. I forgot who said this but its good advice but with these prices you guys are quoting for chrome its hard to follow!
I actually cried twice. Once when I wrote the check out. The second time when I opened the boxes and saw how beautifully breathtaking my pieces were.
im gonna cry for a while if these r the prices im looking at to get my bumpers an trim done cause i have alot of it .... just look...i have alot of chrome on this thing including the trim rings and all...
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